Tension control for wire weaving machines



June 30, 1936. N. s. HARTER 2,046,291 TENS ION CONTROL FOR WIRE WEAVING MACHINES 7 FiledJune 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' I fizz/@215?- Noah 6 Hari' June 30, 1936. 5 HARTER 2,046,291

TENSION CONTRQL FOR WIRE WEAVING MACHINES Filed June 20, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet -2 J5 J6 Jig-Z 19 jg Z3 rwerfifi'r: 11 0427315 HaFZEr, @M

Pes June 3 am UNITED STATES amen TENSION common roa wnm wmvmc mcnmns Noah s. nerter, Waukegan, m, assignor to Cyclone Fence Company, Waukegan, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 20, 1934, Serial No. 231,552

6 Sch-ima- (01. 139-353) which is reinforced by members I3 extending The invention relates to tension control means for lo'oms and particularly wire weaving looms used in the manufacture of wire'screen fabric.

In the type of loom with which the present in- 5 vention is concerned the warp wires are unwound from a plurality of spools, caused to converge and directed over rollers for delivery to a receiving frame from which they are fed to the weaving machine. The frame constructed in accordance with the present invention receives wires from spool racks positioned opposite the frame and to the respective sides thereof and operates to collect and gn the wires for passage through automatic tension control mechanism. Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide means for collecting and feeding warp wires to a weaving machine and which will maintain the wires under a tension that will be substantially uniform for all the wires. I

A further object is to provide automatic mechanism for stopping the operation of the weaving machine in the event a wire should break in which case the tension of the wire becomes zero and which will also operate to bring the machine to a stop should the tension onthe wire exceed a set limit. with these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as ,will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference 3 characters are used to designate like parts- Figure l is a plan view of the warp wire receiving'frame embodying the improvements of Figure 5 is a detail sectional view showing the electric control wires and their manner of attachment to the frame, and' Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view showing th electrical connections for the tension control wires.. I

The frame selected for illustration in the accompanying drawings consists of spaced vertical uprights l0 and II of channel-shaped form having secured to their upper ends the integral 65 frame l2 of substantially rectangular shape andly described.

. The lower main guide member 23 extending parallel with the end members of the integral frame. The members l3 are suitably spaced from each other to provide journalling means for the roller' ll and project a distance to the rear 5 of the receiving frame, that is, to/the side opposite the weaving machine for securement to any suitable support. not shown. Secured adjacent the' ends of the integral frame l2 are guide members l5 and I6, respectively, formed by angle 10 brackets and which are provided with a plurality of spaced openings II for receiving "the warp wires W. These openings maintain the wires in proper spaced relation for travel over the end rollers l8 and I 9 suitably joumalled in the inl5 tegral frame l2 adjacent the respective guide members.

Other warp wires are directed over the main roller I4 which in conjunction with the end rollers converge the wires for passage through the upper main guide member 20. The member is also formed by an angle bracket which extends the. full width of the frame from upright Ill to upright ll, being secured thereto by brackets 2|.

Openings 22 are provided in the base flange of the member in spaced relation for receiving and -directing all of the wires 'passing through the frame. It will be observed by reference to Fig- 1 ure 2 that the end rollers l8 and I9 are disposed at right angles to that 'of the main roller "I 4 and 3 aligns the wires so that they form a single set of uniformly spaced wires for presentation to. the tension control mechanism which will be presentthe width of the frame and'being supported by brackets 24 is also provided with a plurality of openings for receiving and properly spacing the wires prior to their travel over the roller 25,

whereupon they leave the receiving frame and 45.

are delivered to a wire weaving machine of any suitable construction, not shown. It will be noted that guide member 23- is positioned outwardly of the uprights l0 and' I to the rear 61 the receiving frame and is out of vertical alignment with the 50 upper guide member 20 located substantially centrally of the-spaced uprights Roller-25 is journalled in pivoted armsi26 pivoted at 21 to brackets suitably secured to the uprights It and II, re- I spectively. I

'I'he tenslonindicating meansconsists essentially of a pair of spaced electric wires II and II, Figure 5, connecting at their ends with coil directed upwardly, whereas, the flange on. rod 38v is directed downwardly, thus providing opposed supports for detachably securing the tension indicators. These comprise a metal strip 40 having a slot at one end for engagement with the upper flange .on rod 35 and a coil spring 4i connecting with latch 42 for engagement with the lower flange secured to the rod 38. Suitably fastened as by welding to metal strip 40 at substantially the mid-point. of its length is a hook 43 which is hooked around its respective wire to thereby hold the same out of contact with the electric wires 28 and 30. A tension indicator is provided for each warp wire passing through the frame and it will be understood that the coil spring 4| is selected with respect 'to theparticular tension to be maintained in the wires W and that when said tension is established the metal strip 40 and coil springs 4i are sulstantially vertical. Due to the fact that the'upper and lower guide members are out of vertical alignment, as described, the wires W tend to engage the electric contact wire 28 but are restrained from doing so by their engagement with hook 43 of the tension indicator.

In- Figure 6 the motor M for operating the weaving machine is shown electrically connected to power lines L and U, the latter having a switch 44 for interrupting the circuit to the-motor. This switch is of the gravity closing type, or may be positively closed by resilient means, and

' is operated by an electro-magnet 45 which electrically connects with wires 48 and 41, the latter having in circuit therewith the battery 48. Con-- ductor 48 leading from the electro-magnet connects with both wires 28 and 30, which as previously described are insulated from the frame while conductor 41 is grounded at 50 to the frame.

It will be observed from the foregoing, that. should the tension on any particular warp wire vary by reason of the spool sticking, which would increase the tension on the wire, or by reason of a wire breaking, the particular wire is brought into contact with either of the electric wires 28 or 30. This results in closing the electric circuit to the electro-magnet 45 which upon energization will lift switch 44 to interrupt the power circuit to the motor operating the weaving machine. The weaving machine therefore stops and the operator is thereby informed that the warp wires require attention. In the event that the tension on any one' wire exceeds the limit determined by the coil spring 4i the hook 43 will be drawn outwardly, causing an elongation of spring 4i and a. displacement of the particular indicator with respect to the remaining indicators. The operator will be able to spotthe particular wire giving trouble and by tracing the same back to its source the cause for the increased tension can begdetermined. When the trouble is the result of a broken wire the slack in' said *wire is readily visible to ordinarily the warp wires will beinalignment and presenta uniform appearance; their travd through the receiving frame. By'reason of the frame andthe tension indicatingmeans of the 5 invention it is relatively easy for the operator as locate trouble that develops with respect tothe 4 It istobeunderstood that Idonot wishtobelimited by the exact embodiment ofthe device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation,as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to, those skilled in the art without departing from the splritof the invention or the scope of the claims.

Y "I claim: 1 I

1. In a deviceof the kind described, a frame for receiving a-plurality of warp wiresand'for delivering said wiresto a weaving machine for further operations, spaced means supported by 20 said frame engaging the warp wires and aligning the same transversely "of said frame, a tension indicator associated witheach warp wire at a point between the. spaced means, each tension indicator yieldingly holding the wire out of its 3,

the warp wires exceeds a predetermined limit.

2. In a device of the kind described, a frame for receiving a plurality of warp wires and for delivering said wires to a wire weaving machine, said frame extending vertically and receiving the warp wires at the top and delivering them at the base, a tension indicator associated with each warp wire andcarried by the frame, each of said indicators yieldingly holding its respective win out of its normal directionwhen the same is under normal tension, whereby visible indication is given as to the particular wire when the tension: on the same exceeds a predetermined limit, and

a contact wire also supported by the frame and said frame extending vertically and receiving. the

warp .wires at the top and delivering them at the base, a tension indicator associated with each warp wire and carried by the frame, each indicator comprising a member detachable with respect to its warp wire, and resilient means attaching the same to the frame, each of said indicators yleldingly holding its respective warp wire out of its normal direction when the same is under normal tension, whereby visible indication is given as to the particular wire when the tension on the same exceeds a predetermined limit, and spaced contact wires supported by and extending trans-- versely of the frame and normally spaced from the warp wires, said warp wires being adapted to engage one or the other of said contact wires when the tension on the warp wires exceeds predetermined limit or drops below a predetermined minimum.

NOAH S. HARTER.

thew. 

